Snezhanka

A few months ago, I learned of a Bulgarian salad called Snow White or Snezhanka.  It sounded like something my family would like, so we tried it for the first time tonight and it was a big hit.  My Armenian girl called it "exquisite."  I don't know how it's served in Bulgaria, but we enjoyed it with a side of grilled potatoes.

Here's the recipe for anyone who'd like to check it out.

Lilit & Ella

For the first six years of her life, Ella lived in an orphanage in Gyumri, Armenia.  Her best friend, also born with skeletal differences, was with her for that entire span minus a few weeks at the end.  They shared side by side cribs and both tell me that they'd whisper to each other when they couldn't sleep and held hands through the bars when they were afraid. On the day of their separation when Ella knew already that she'd be joining our family shortly and Lilit was being transferred to an older child facility, the girls hid in the bathroom together, crying and hugging, hoping they wouldn't be found and ripped apart. Losing Lilit was traumatic for Ella and she struggled with something akin to survivor's guilt for about three years until we learned that Lilit, too, would be adopted.  With this news, Ella was able to move on more freely and confidently with the new path before her.

Their former cribs beneath the window

Little girls in Gyumri

It's been five years since the girls lived together and in this time their experiences have deviated widely.  Therefore, while some common ground remains, they each also have changed significantly.  Earlier this month Lilit and Ella reunited for a long weekend and I was happy to see that despite the years of separation, they still held a fondness for one another and were able to create a certain level of new closeness quickly.  Their relationship won't and maybe never should be again what it was during their traumatic years in Gyumri, but I hope that they will stay connected and support each other throughout their lives as there is no one else in the world that shared with them what they experienced together, no one who can understand or remember in the same way.

Definite preteens in the USA

Together Forever Day 2019

Despite our very full weekend ten days ago, it did not slip my mind that on July 14, we reached the 8th anniversary of Rex joining our family. I did not want to let the occasion pass without note. 

Rex, when I look at these pictures, I remember a little boy terrified of water.  Your dad and I had your "shower/bath" routine down to a dry tub, a couple of cups of water, a little soap and about three minutes total during which we got clawed and hit and kicked and bitten and bombarded with terrible feral screams.  Look at you now, loving all things water: frolicking in the pool for hours each day without a care in the world, asking to go to splash pads, stripping spontaneously naked at the sight of any ocean or lake, playing joyfully in the rain, and wading in streams and rivers without fear.  You have come such a distance in every way.

This past year, you have gained a lot of maturity.  You are more in tune with your own emotions and those of others, you are even more social - in no small part due to your happy use of your speech device - and you are calmer and increasingly patient.  You're still our snuggler extraordinaire, a lover of bacon and potato chips, and a little mischief.  You've become a bit of a singer, a surprise hugger, a flirt, and a Chick-Fil-A aficionado.  We love you.  You really are a wonder.

They both listened silently to the water,

which to them was not just water,

but the voice of life, the voice of Being, the voice of perpetual Becoming.

-Hermann Hesse

Sweet Childhood

You know how sometimes you find little treasures that make you smile in your kids' coat pockets before you send their jackets into the laundry?  Well, today, I had this pleasure on a larger scale when I went through a bag Emilia had packed for herself for an imaginary trip.  I was really impressed with some of her practical choices (a pen, a scarf, a whistle #safety, a washcloth, and a phone), but more importantly I was touched by the things she chose to bring along that make her who she is: her favorite dress up outfit, a small crown, sunglasses, caricatures of herself and her siblings, and a dictionary.  I hope the sweetness of this child of mine is something I'll always remember and something that she'll never lose.

IAC 462- 464

The following referrals were issued in IAC session 462 which was held on May 9, 2019:

1) Danish dossier from August 2012 referred a male child aged 2 years and 3 months with features in health status

2) Dutch dossier from August 2013 referred two brothers aged 5 years and 3 months & 3 years and 6 months with features in health status

3) French dossier from December 2013 referred a male child aged 1 year and 6 months with features in health status and a family history

4) French dossier from October 2014 referred a male child aged 3 years and 8 months with features in health status and a family history

5) Italian dossier from August 2016 referred a brother and sister aged 5 years and 10 months & 7 years and 10 months with features in health status and a family history

6) French dossier from December 2016 referred a male child aged 8 years and 10 months

7) US dossier from May 2019 referred a waiting child  (#3323) with a profile on the MOJ site
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The following referrals were issued in IAC session 463 which was held on May 16, 2019:

1) US dossier from October 2012 referred a female child aged 1 year and 7 months with a family history

2) French dossier from October 2015 referred a male child aged 5 years with features in health status and a family history

3) Italian dossier from August 2017 referred two sisters aged 9 years and 9 months & 8 years and 2 months with features in health status

4) Italian dossier from August 2017 referred a male child aged 9 years and 4 months with features in health status

5) US dossier from April 2018 referred waiting siblings (#3731 & #3732) with profiles on the MOJ site

6) Italian dossier from December 2018 referred a brother and sister aged 10 years and 6 months & 8 years and 8 months with a family history

7) US dossier from February 2019 referred a waiting child (#3642) with a profile on the MOJ site

8) Canadian dossier from April 2019 referred a male child aged 8 years with features in health status

9) US dossier from May 2019 referred two waiting children  (#3628 & #3629) with profiles on the MOJ site

10) US dossier from May 2019 referred a waiting child  (#3373) with a profile on the MOJ site
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The following referrals were issued in IAC session 464 which was held on May 30, 2019:

1) Irish dossier from April 2014 referred two brothers aged 4 years and 11 months & 5 years and 11 months with features in health status

2) Spanish dossier from October 2014 referred a male child aged 3 years and 11 months with features in health status

3) US dossier from November 2015 referred a female child aged 4 years and 6 months with features in health status and a family history

4) US dossier from February 2016 referred a female child aged 1 year and 4 months with features in health status and a family history

5) US dossier from March 2017 referred a female child aged 2 years and 1 month with features in health status

6) US dossier from May 2019 referred a waiting child  (#3537) with a profile on the MOJ site

7) US dossier from May 2019 referred a waiting child  (#3635) with a profile on the MOJ site

8) US dossier from May 2019 referred a waiting child  (#3624) with a profile on the MOJ site

Trauma Therapy

In a recent trauma therapy session, my daughter's therapist enacted her birth using a toy dog that gave birth to a stuffed puppy which was then adopted by a bunny.  Our therapist used everyone's real names and explained a bit as she modeled the process.  After she had finished, she paused to allow my daughter a chance to give input to the situation.  My daughter picked up the newborn puppy, gently carried it to me and placed it into my cupped hands with four simple yet powerful words, "This baby is hurt."  She then crawled into my lap, asking to be held and rocked.

Over the next several days at home, my little girl continued to care for the puppy.  She kept adding layers of protection to him from a tiny sock, to a hair band, to a piece of Bulgarian ribbon, and  several feet of medical gauze.  Finally, the puppy was deemed safe and left to rest on our couch, surrounded by the bustle of our family life.

But when will my hurt baby finally feel safe?

Pictures Of The (Yester)Day

July 1 kicked off Ella's fifth grade year.  She will be a home schooler once again, but attend two days a week at a home school "school" taking these classes:

1) CSI Detectives
2) Eww, Gross, Yuck - the Human Body
3) Junior Robotics
4) Conscious Connections
5) Peace Jam Leaders (about 12 Nobel Peace Prize winners)
6) Art
7) Beginner's Guitar
8) American Sign Language

So, with ten instructional hours at the "school" and three hours with her academic intervention specialist weekly, I really only need to teach about seven hours a week myself to get to our required 900 hours. I'll be focusing on Language Arts and Math as well as geography sprinkled with a little art and music history.